GOP US Congressional Enablers Visiting Russia On Behalf Of The Russian Asset In The White House

On the 4th of July 2018, 7 GOP US Congress representatives were busy cozening up with Russian lawmakers on behalf of the republican President Donald Trump who looks, walks and talks like a Russian asset. Watching these US lawmakers in action, Americans would never guess that this was the same country which successfully orchestrated a major attack on US elections infrastructure in 2016 and which was responsible for poisoning 2 peoples on sovereign British soil.

These US legislators are Senators Richard Shelby of Alabama, Jim Moran of Virginia, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, John Kennedy of Louisiana, John Thune of South Dakota, John Hoevenand of North Dakota and Representative Kay Granger of Texas.

It is important to note that this was not a bipartisan US group because Russia would not grant visas to Democratic legislators because Democrats have been critical of Russian activities.

Here’s the rest of the story…

On July 3, 2018, Anton Troianovski of the Washington Post penned the following report, ” Republican lawmakers come to Moscow, raising hopes there of U.S.-Russia thaw”

“Republican members of Congress sounded a newly conciliatory tone in meetings with Russian lawmakers and officials here on Tuesday (7/3/18) in a rare visit to Moscow and a preview of the looming summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

“Sen. Richard C. Shelby told Russia’s foreign minister that while Russia and the United States were competitors, “we don’t necessarily need to be adversaries.” Later on at the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, members attending a plenary session greeted the Americans with applause.”

“I’m not here today to accuse Russia of this or that or so forth,” Shelby told Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. “I’m saying that we should all strive for a better relationship.”

“The Republicans’ meetings in Moscow — coming after the lawmakers visited St. Petersburg and took in the ballet “Sleeping Beauty” — helped set the tone for the July 16 Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki. Their Russian hosts said they hoped the Americans’ newfound willingness to meet marked a turning point after years of almost no direct contact between lawmakers in Washington and Moscow.”

“Lawmakers on both sides said that the more than four hours of meetings covered a wide range of topics on which they continued to disagree but that they remained committed to renewed dialogue.”

“The U.S. delegation, Russian lawmakers said, represented the most significant congressional visit to Russia after about a decade in which such visits were few and generally low-key. For more than a year, Russian officials have been voicing frustration that the improvement in U.S.-Russian ties that Trump promised in his presidential campaign had yet to materialize. With this week’s congressional trip, last week’s visit by White House national security adviser John Bolton and the upcoming Helsinki summit, Russians now hope that change is finally near.”

“Among the Russians meeting with the Republicans on Tuesday was Sergey Kislyak — the former Russian ambassador to Washington whose communications with Michael Flynn led to the former national security adviser’s downfall. Kislyak, now a member of the upper house of parliament, noted in an interview after the meeting that many of the Republicans sitting across the table were already known to him from Washington.”

US AMBASSADOR JON HUNTSMAN/ SENATOR SHELBY

“The main thing about all this is that our guests traveled here in order to talk,” Kislyak said. “This is probably good confirmation of a readiness to start a dialogue — something that we lacked for a long time.”

“Participants offered conflicting accounts of the degree to which they aired U.S.-Russian disagreements. Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) described the meetings as “damn frank, very, very, very frank, no holds barred.”

“I asked our friends in Russia not to interfere in our elections this year,” Kennedy said. “I asked them to exit Ukraine and allow Ukraine to self-determine. I asked for the same thing in Crimea. I asked for their help in bringing peace to Syria. And I asked them not to allow Iran to gain a foothold in Syria.”

“Duma member Vyacheslav Nikonov, on the other hand, said he had met with many American lawmakers in years past and that this meeting “was one of the easiest ones in my life.” The question of election interference, he said, was resolved quickly because “the question was raised in a general form.”

“U.S. intelligence officials have stated unequivocally that they believe that Russian agents sought to influence the 2016 presidential election. Trump has continued to cast doubt on those conclusions.”

LAVROV/ TRUMP/ KISLYAK

“The American lawmakers discussed the upcoming Helsinki summit and other matters with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, his ministry said. At the meeting at the Federation Council — the upper house of parliament — Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev raised Russia’s grievances about new American sanctions and the U.S. seizure of Russian diplomatic properties. While some members of the U.S. delegation speculated before the trip that they might see Putin himself, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that the president had no time for the visitors.”

“In December, two Republicans canceled a planned trip to Russia after Moscow denied a visa to Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), an outspoken critic of Russia. This time, only Republicans were in attendance, including Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the third-ranking Republican in the Senate.”

“The fact that the American delegation was not bipartisan was not lost on the Russians.”

“Since the Democrats actively accuse the Republicans of selling out to the Russians, it would naturally be strange if Democrats here were part of the group,” Nikonov said.”

4 comments

Gronda, if I did not know something was already amiss with this President and Russia, I would have to ask a very simple question. Why are you going to Russia with open hands after our intelligence leaders said they interfered with our election and are still interfering right now? Call me crazy, but it strikes me as more than odd. Keith

President Trump has something up his sleeve and whatever it is, it is not good. He is still planning for a one-on-one meeting but he should not be allowed to do this without a credible witness or some type of recording. He can’t be trusted to do the right thing. I don’t get why someone isn’t doing something to stop him.

Gronda, there is a larger long term concern and a more straightforward one. Trump is a master marketer of image, not substance. His own words confirm his goal – don’t make me look bad. Putin is a master of using marketing to accomplish his agenda and is more concerned with the result – his goal is to diminish the west and grow Russia. Hence, Putin has and will continue to use Trump. When I see Trunp act tough toward Putin, I feel it is window dressing.

The longer term is a concern. I see my former party looking at demographic trends and saying they must change the paradigm. There are multiple strategies underway, ranging from the more benign to the nefarious.

The more benign is to sell young adults on conservative thinking, blocking avenues of more progressive thoughts. The less benign relates to voter suppression and hindering the influx of immigrants into the US. The nefarious is the suppression of civil rights, freedom of the press and cozying up to people like Putin who may be presenting an option of less democracy to favor an audience that looks like him. This last though scares me, as it is plausible. Keith

Suppression of the vote is a prime motivator. Fortunately, the business type republicans like Koch brothers want legal immigration increased and they don’t want tariffs. There is about to be a riff coming down the pike.

You are so right on the money to say the following, “The nefarious is the suppression of civil rights, freedom of the press and cozying up to people like Putin who may be presenting an option of less democracy to favor an audience that looks like him.”